Jealous Guy
by OnMyOwn1832
Summary: Paul McCartney is not usually a jealous man, but recent events have caused him to suspect his wife, Lou McCartney, and his best friend, John Lennon, of having an affair. Everyone else knows that Paul is just overreacting and feeling insecure, but what will it take to convince him that he's "just a jealous guy?" Based on the song by John Lennon. Beatles AU, not ATU.


**Hello Beatlemaniacs! Welcome to my first Beatles story! Of course, I do not own the Beatles or the song "Jealous Guy," but I do own this story and my OC.**

 **A little context before we begin - it's late summer/early fall 1968. Paul and his wife, my OC Louise (Lou) McCartney, have been married for four have an 18 month old daughter named Mary. John and Cynthia are in the process of getting divorced, and John is with Yoko.**

 **Also, grammatical errors in the dialogue are intentional! :)**

 **Chapter One: Jealous**

Paul McCartney was not usually prone to jealousy. To be sure, he didn't like it one bit when some bloke gazed at his wife too long, but he would never have considered himself to be a jealous guy. But, as with so many things in his life, his emotions were changing, and he found himself getting upset over little things that would not have concerned him a month ago. He knew that Lou thought he was just upset because John was being difficult to work with.

If only his concerns with John ended there.

Paul McCartney never thought he would see the day when he would suspect his wife and his best friend of some secret affair. It wasn't as though he had a lot of evidence on which to base his assumptions. In fact, there were only two instances which fueled his suspicions. However, John had just left Cyn for Yoko. If John had willingly abandoned his wife and child, what was there to stop him from pursuing his best friend's wife?

Paul's suspicions had started a few weeks earlier, when he and John had been bickering over how they should build the harmonies in their latest song. John had come by Paul's home with the new progression, claiming to have George and Ringo's support. Paul had wanted the chords to be major and lively, while John had favoured a moody, diminished progression.

" _It sounds better the other way, you git," John exclaimed, running his hand through his ever-growing hair._

 _Paul, seated at the piano, played his progression again. "You gone deaf, John? This is the way it needs to be. It works better for the chorus!"_

" _George and Ringo agree with me!"_

" _What does Ringo know about chord progressions?"_

" _Oh, I'm sorry, Paul. When did you attend the Pompous Londoners' Music Conservatory, again?"_

 _Paul groaned. "Just shut up, John."_

 _Lou entered the room, a concerned expression on her face. "Everything all right in here, lads?"_

" _Your husband is being a right swine, Mrs. McCartney," John stated._

" _Well, I don't doubt that." She said it teasingly, but Paul certainly didn't hear it as such. Noticing the anger on Paul's face, she asked, "What are you two on about?"_

" _Which do you prefer, Lou?" Paul asked. "This?" He played his progression. "Or this?" He played John's._

 _Lou looked thoughtful. "I'd have to say the second. I like the tone it sets."_

 _John whooped triumphantly before he kissed Lou's hand. "Fair lady, I'll take you anywhere you fancy to celebrate me victory!"_

 _Lou rolled her eyes, pushing him away. "Control yourself, Lennon."_

" _Control meself? I'm a Beatle, lass; I can do anything I want."_

" _As we have daily proof."_

 _Watching the way the two of them interacted bothered Paul as it never had before. He found it more frustrating than the fact that Lou had favoured John's idea. With a sour expression on his face and a contrary voice, Paul stated, "Make the change then, John. I don't care."_

 _Once John left, Paul approached Lou. "What was that?"_

" _What was what?"_

" _Did you have to agree with John?"_

" _I didn't know I was agreeing with John. I was just expressing an opinion."_

" _In favour of his."_

 _Lou sighed. "It's just a chord progression, Paul."_

 _He threw his hands in the air and stormed out of the room._

Paul shook his head at the memory. There was just something about the way the two had interacted, how oddly comfortable it had seemed, that made Paul incredibly uncomfortable. To be sure, Lou and John had always been friends, but Lou had been furious with John over leaving Cyn. Why was she suddenly his friend again?

Then, last evening, things had become worse. Paul and Lou had gone to George and Pattie's for a party. When he noticed that neither John nor Lou were in the living room, he had grown concerned and begun to look for them. He found them in the kitchen – Lou hugging John.

" _Lou?" Paul choked out as he saw the two._

 _Lou stepped back from John. "Paul, are you all right? You don't look well."_

 _He was still trying to wrap his head around what he had seen. "What…what are you doing in here?"_

" _Pattie sent me in here to cool off. Someone was being difficult," she muttered the last part, looking at John._

 _John glared at her. "You need to give Yoko a chance, Lou," he said._

" _Mo and I have been trying, John, but she doesn't make it easy."_

" _Listen, it's not like if you don't like 'er, I'm going back to Cyn."_

" _That's_ not _what we're doing."_

" _You're not even trying to like her."_

" _I'm trying to find one redeeming feature that would even make me want to like her!"_

 _The two glared at each other, and the tension between them was strong – too strong, in Paul's opinion. He went up to Lou and grabbed her arm. "C'mon, Lou, we're leaving."_

 _He would not speak to her until they were in their car. When he did, his tone was terse._

" _So," he began, "what was going on in there?"_

 _Lou looked at him, confused. "You mean in the kitchen? John acts as if Mo and I are conspiring to kill Yoko and force him back with Cyn."_

" _No, before that."_

" _What before that?"_

" _When you were hugging John."_

" _Oh," she said. "Well, before he was being an arse, he was telling me about how he's missing his mum. This year is the tenth anniversary of her death. That's why I was hugging him."_

 _Paul felt his heart harden. "You know, he's not the only one who's lost his mother."_

 _She placed a hand on his arm. "I know, darling. I'm not saying that you've had it an easier."_

 _Her sympathy just angered him more. "You and John looked rather cozy, if you ask me."_

 _She was quiet for a moment, before she asked. "Darling, what's wrong?"_

" _Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired and wanted to leave."_

" _But you're usually the life of the party," she smiled._

" _If John's there, they'll be fine without me," Paul spat._

 _Lou sighed. "You don't need to make everything a competition, love."_

 _He sneered at her, before pulling his arm from her reach. "Just drop it, then."_

Although he had told Lou to drop it, he hadn't expected her to. He was rather surprised when she didn't pursue it. That further convinced him that there was something going on between Lou and John that she was trying to hide.

And that brought Paul to where he was now, sitting in George's living room, recounting his concerns and fears.

George sat across from Paul, idly plucking an acoustic guitar as he listened. George rolled his eyes as Paul finished. "You're daft."

Paul felt his jaw slacken. "No, I'm not."

"John's in the Yoko Ono Cult, he's not after Lou, too."

"You weren't there, George! You didn't see it!"

Shrugging, George said, "Lou only has eyes for you."

"She's only human, George. Them eyes are bound to wander a bit."

"Then she'd me after me, not John."

Paul groaned as he stood. "I don't know why I even bothered to tell you. Forget I mentioned it." He started for the door, but turned around abruptly, his eyes wide. "Wait. She's not after _you_ , is-"

"Oh, bug off!" George exclaimed. As Paul left, George called out "You're a swine!" for good measure.

Pattie quickly came in. "What was all that?"

"Paul's a swine."

She chuckled. "You're going to need to fill me in, here."

"Paul's got himself convinced Lou is having an affair with John, he has."

Pattie laughed. "Oh, please. You can't be serious. Where did he get an idea like that?"

"Lou liked John's music better. Then she hugged him last night."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Well, if a hug is all it takes to have a torrid love affair, you and I have been cheating since our wedding day. Paul's gone mad – absolutely mad! If Lou's having an affair with John, then I'll have an affair with Ringo."

"You wouldn't have an affair with Ringo if your life depended on it."

Cocking an eyebrow, Pattie asked, "Oh, really?"

"You don't like his nose."

"Maybe I could overlook that."

"No, you couldn't."

* * *

Paul entered his home, sighing in relief as he closed the door behind him. Hearing Lou's voice, he followed it to the kitchen, where she was talking on the telephone. Mary was sitting on the floor, playing with a top.

"Right, John," she said into the receiver. "Bye." She looked up at Paul and smiled. "Hello, love." Leaning down to pick up Mary, she said, "Look, sweetheart, Daddy's home!"

The little girl smiled and held out her hands to her father, but Paul failed to notice as he felt the rage mounting inside of him. John? _Again_? Was this never going to end? "Talkin' to John then, are you?"

Lou nodded. "Cyn's bringing Jules over for the weekend. I was just making sure that John would be able to come get him on Monday."

"I'm bloody sick of all of this!" Paul suddenly exclaimed.

Her eyes widening, Lou asked, "Julian? I can ring Cyn and tell her-"

"No, not Jules! You and John! Everywhere I turn, it's you and John!"

"Paul, what's going on?"

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You tell me."

* * *

 **So, what do you think? Would you like to see the next part? Please review and let me know!**

 **Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!**


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